Skip to content

Beach litter group plea after 'horrendous' period

Crispin Rolfe/BBC A woman with long hair wearing a cream winter beanie hat with a beige coat and orange high vis jacket. She is smiling into the camera with rosy cheeks and you can sea a beach in the background.Crispin Rolfe/BBC
Lianne Havell, founder of Sutton on Sea BeachCare, said some people should "learn to use a bin"

A voluntary group that clears up beach litter is pleading for people to use a bin after it faced a "horrendous" 18 months.

Sutton on Sea BeachCare said it had cleared 1,127 bags of rubbish from the town's coastline since the start of 2023.

Lianne Havell, who founded the group in 2016, said this winter had been one of the worst for beach and marine waste.

The group, which goes out daily to clear litter, said it was committed to keeping the beach clean and maintaining the town's Blue Flag status.

Crispin Rolfe/BBC A woman with a litter picker reaching underneath a blue bench. She is wearing black trousers, an orange high vis jacket and beige beanie. Next to her is a white full plastic bag and a pizza box, cigarette packet and plastic next to her.Crispin Rolfe/BBC
Ms Havell finds items such as pizza boxes, cigarette packets and even a teabag during her litter picks

The BBC joined Ms Havell on 3 January, when she showed wrappers, polystyrene, a mask and plastic bottles she had filled a bag up with.

The group also come across lots of waste from boats, including fishing line, netting and rope.

In total, the group said it collected 527 full bags of rubbish in 2024, and 600 the previous year.

Ms Havell said: "The last 18 months have been horrendous. If only people could learn to use a bin.

"There is a lot of people that are very good and do just that, but sadly there is an awful lot that don't.

"It would be nice to think by the end of this year we have lower figures rather than higher."

Crispin Rolfe/BBC A woman wearing a black coat with shoulder-length blonde hair and glasses and a man stood next to her with short grey hair wearing a light blue coat with an owl on it. They are stood on a promenade.Crispin Rolfe/BBC
Mark and Wendy Wilson live in Sutton on Sea and have a caravan in Ingoldmells

Wendy Wilson, 63, who has a caravan at Ingoldmells with her husband, Mark, said the seafront at the coastal village was "so bad" in terms of litter that it "doesn't even compare" to Sutton on Sea.

The town was awarded Blue Flag status by East Lindsey District Council in May 2024, along with Mablethorpe and Skegness.

As part of the criteria for the award, beaches are assessed on their environmental management, including litter and waste.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

More on this story
Related internet links